Sir, - The suggestion by Ms Siobhan Tyrell of Dublin International Sports Council (July 25th) that we should now apply an additional tax to raise tourism revenue shows a lack of understanding of the dynamics of tourism and is not one which will find any support in the industry.
The industry will, however, support the thesis that more of the funds generated by the Exchequer from the tourist industry should be dedicated to increasing international marketing. Furthermore, there is a need to ensure that incentives for private sector investment should continue to be a Government priority, in view of the huge benefits which have resulted for the country and the Exchequer over the past decade.
In employment terms alone, tourism has demonstrated a greater capacity to create jobs than any other sector - a total of up to 50,000 new jobs have been created by the industry since 1987, when Government policies began to favour investment in tourism and encourage the private sector.
The Exchequer is the single biggest beneficiary from tourism growth. Apart from the jobs and foreign revenue which it has generated for the economy, tourism already provides over £1.3 billion annually in tax "take" to the Exchequer. Very little of that is being recycled to the development and marketing of tourism.
The share of funding responsibility under the current Operational Programme (1994-1999) is telling. The EU has been the principal investor in Irish tourism, providing 57 per cent of total funding. The private sector is contributing 30 per cent, while direct Government investments amount to 13 per cent of the total - £84 million over five years, relatively meagre in view of the Exchequer's tax take of over £1 billion a year.
The industry recognises that it will have to increase its share of the promotional and product investment bill after 1999. What we haven't heard is what the largest "shareholder", the Government, proposes to do.
It is how the Government proposes to play its full role in the future development of the tourist industry that is our principal interest as we approach the 1999 watershed.
Despite its remarkable achievements to date, tourism in Ireland is not an "easy sell". World markets are increasingly competitive and Ireland's promotional budgets, while substantial, are not sufficiently large to sustain the sort of targets which are being set for tourism jobs and revenue beyond 2000.
To suggest that the answer to the funding issue - or, in particular DISC's funding agenda, since this seems to be the motivation for the letter, is to tax the consumer (the tourist) further is dangerously simplistic. Ireland's international marketing competitiveness is coming under increasing pressure. A number of constraints have already been identified which threaten future growth. Now is not the time to further weaken that competitiveness.
Overseas visitors already pay hefty amounts to get here. They pay realistic prices - in some cases quite high prices - for the holiday experience and, increasingly, they are paying to use products, facilities and services many of which have been free to them in the past.
A "quick fix", such as a bed night or departure tax on visitors, is not what the industry requires as it faces into the post1999 environment.
Rather, it needs a comprehensive strategic approach under which the Government and the private sector will clearly commit themselves to - and accept the funding implications of - agreed strategies to reach realistic targets in the future.
ITIC has begun the process by commissioning a new strategic plan for the industry, which will be completed next December. We have still to hear from the Government on its strategic approach, but the industry will expect something more imaginative and market-led than another tax on tourism. - Yours, etc.,
Brendan Leahy, Chief Executive, Irish Tourist Industry Confederation,
Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.